South Wales Police says it has seen a 10% drop in the amount of unnecessary 999 calls after it changed the way its call-takers answered the phone.

Apparently, when callers are greeted with the phrase, “South Wale Police, what is your emergency?” it encourages callers to realise that they haven’t actually got an emergency & stops them dialling 999 in future.

I think we should do the same in my force. A 10% cut in wasted calls would be very handy, how many extra doughnuts can you fit in when you do 10% less work?

I’d refine the opening phrase even more though to get an even bigger drop in calls. “Hello, police emergency, if you haven’t got an emergency this call is going to cost you Ã‚Â£10 which will automatically be charged to your telephone bill, thank you for calling, we’re here to help make your community safer in partnership.”

I bet we’d get a significantly bigger drop in wasted 999 calls than South Wales’ piffly little 10%!